AD- Outright Games PAW Patrol Adventure City Calls gifted for review
So long, Adventure Bay! PAW Patrol is on a roll…to Adventure CITY! To celebrate the release of the brand new PAW Patrol Movie, a brand new video game has hit our shelves this week. When the pups learn that Humdinger has become Mayor of a buzzing metropolis, they must race into action to save Adventure City from his selfish scheming! Playing as your
favourite pups on exciting rescue missions, children can explore brand new locations, level up with fab vehicles and gadgets, play minigames and set off to help save the day!
We were lucky enough to be sent an advance copy of the PAW Patrol Adventure City Calls game to put through it’s paces and with two BIG PAW Patrol fans in this house; we were excited to see what this latest edition had in store.
To get us into the party spirit, we also took the opportunity to bake some PUP themed treats to munch on whilst we played, and printed off some colouring sheets that embraced the Mighty Pups super powers! The girls really LOVED making their own PAW Patrol medals and earning them for every Mission completed! 🙂
In hindsight, trusting a four year old with a pot of sprinkles probably wasn’t my finest moment, but she had fun and they looked fab!
Our Experience of the PAW Patrol Adventure City Calls Game
The girls are HUGE PAW Patrol fans, and having previously reviewed the PAW Patrol On a Roll game that was released on the PS4 in 2019 and the PAW Patrol Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay game released in 2020, the girls were really excited to see what the brand new Adventure City Calls game had in store.
As per the predessor, PAW Patrol Adventure City Calls game has three main areas of play – Main Missions, Mini Games and Collectibles and it is super easy to get started. My youngest is four and needed very little assistance whatsoever- except perhaps with her patience!
Main Missions
The Main Missions of the PAW Patrol Adventure City game feature lots of familiar PAW Patrol characters including all PAW Patrol pups (including new addition Liberty)
There are 8 different missions to complete, and Initially only one is open and ready to play, with others being locked and earned the more you play. At the start of each mission Ryder briefs the pups at the lookout (verbally chatting and with written credits) setting the scene for the mission and the challenge that lies ahead.
Some of the missions included Put Out Fires, Traffic Patrol and Electrical Shut Down.
As with the previous games, this is a 3D Platform game, which is easy to control and has fab 3D views around Adventure City that really help bring game play to life.
During the main missions, you get to play as (nearly) all of the different PAW Patrol characters (although if your kids are like mine are Skye and Everest mad, its worth noting that you cant pick who you play for each level, there are 2 designated pups already allocated to each mission based on their super power skill.)
As you select your mission, the shields highlight underneath so you can clearly see which two pups are being called up to play and are introduced by Ryder – who in this game is styling a brand new hair cut and looking pretty dapper!
Playing Together
Just like earlier PAW Patrol games, the PAW Patrol Adventure City Calls game includes the element of cooperative play. Not two player mode as such, children can take on a character each and as the mission involves swapping between characters regularly throughout the level, they can switch over when each pup is required, using their special powers to clear obstacles and navigate through the landscape.
Erin and Neve enjoyed buddying up to complete their mission, swapping regularly to take on the navigation and use their chosen pups super skills.
During game play. Ryder pops up regularly on the bottom of the screen to give hints, tips and reminders on which buttons to press (visually highlighting on illustrations ton show what buttons do what). This is really handy for younger players like Neve who at aged 4, can sometimes forget which buttons do which. It also alerted the girls to when they needed to swap characters and take it in turns.
Mini Games
There are 4 different Mini Games in PAW Patrol Adventure City, including Time Trials, Collect Them All, Obstacle races and the old faithful Pup Pup Boogie where two pups (the one you play can be chosen from ALL of them) – can battle it out to win the ultimate dance zone contest, pressing buttons and moving the cursor at the right time to do all the correct dance moves. The girls really enjoyed this so was glad too see it was back with some of the new characters too.
These mini games are great for younger players or when you are listed on time or just want a quick game of around 5 minutes without heading to the main missions.
Collectables
In the final element of the game there is a collectibles section – as you play the main missions and mini games you can earn badges (finding them hidden around landscapes and when you earn certain amounts of pup treats and points). Each badge can then be added to your list of collectibles including characters, locations and animals and are a great way for children to mark their achievements.
What we Loved about PAW Patrol Adventure City Calls
The girls have really loved playing the PAW Patrol Adventure City Calls game. If you have played and enjoyed the previous PAW Patrol games, the concept is very similar, so you wont be disappointed.
The main missions are fun and engaging and there are lots of problem solving elements in the game play, which is a great way to help children figure out what they need to do and take the steps to achieve it.
It’s worth remembering that this game is for young children, so in terms of difficulty level – its not really hard at all. It is more about following instructions, progressing through the challenges and collecting items as you go. There are no baddies or threats in these games whatsoever, but for my two aged 8 and 4, this worked really well. Neve at 4 was quite happy navigating her way through and completing the challenges where as Erin at aged 8, enjoyed challenging herself to collect all the bones and coins along the way without missing a single one. This took a bit more effort and required her to really pay attention, so added another level of complexity to the game.
What would we change about PAW Patrol Adventure City Calls
My review wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t critique the game, and there are a few minor elements I would change or that I feel are worth knowing before you play.
Firstly, and similar to the other games, the Pups themselves dont speak – the only dialogue is through Ryder who pops up on screen for instructions / advice / guidance. I would love to have seen the odd pup sound effect or catchphrase, just to add a bit of extra engagement with the characters.
Probably the biggest frustration with this game is that it can take a while to load each new level with a holding screen with all the Pups badges appearing for quite a substantial amount of times – so much so that at one point I thought it had crashed. With the girls being used to the somewhat instant gratification of an iPad game; they did sometimes get a little impatient with this (they should be thankful they didn’t ever have to wait the 45 minutes it took Olympic Games to load on my Commodore 64!).
Overall, the PAW Patrol Adventure City Calls Game was a big hit and perfect for younger players who want to be able to play independently or buddy up with a sibling!
PAW Patrol Adventure City Calls is available from 13th August on PS4, Nintendo Switch or Xbox One
Don’t just take my word for it, why not come and join the PAW Patrol Mighty Pups fun at the Twitter Party over at @ukmumstv on 13th August from 1-3 to learn even more about the game and what to expect!
Learn more about the game here.
*We were provided with a complementary game for the purpose of this review however as always, all thoughts and opinions are my own*
